The Lincoln Story Book | Page 6

calm. Lay hold of a branch."
The tree was at a convenient height, and Carman caught on and swung
himself out; but the icy water chilled him to the bone. But he was safe
for the present, seeing which the captain called out to the other to let go
his pole and let himself be carried down to the tree, also. If he hung on
in the open there much longer, he would become stiff and unable to
swim. The man managed to reach his mate, and the two were joined at
the tree.

The manager of the rescue found a log and, attaching a rope, rolled it
into the stream, with the help of others who had arrived on the scene.
They towed it up some distance to get a good send-off, and a young
daredevil got on it with the intention of being floated down to the tree,
where all three would become passengers and be drawn home. But in
his haste to do so, Jim Dorrell raised himself off his log by the branch
he grasped and, along with the other unfortunates, made three men to
be saved.
When the riderless log was hauled up inshore, Lincoln mounted it to
make the next cast in person. Having an extra rope with him, he lassoed
the tree and soon drew the log up. Cold as they were, the three men
dropped down and straddled beside him. At his orders the men on the
bank held the rope taut, so that the log, allowed to swing off freely,
slung around with the current to the side, and the four were
disembarked. This made Abraham the hero of the Sangamon River
among the boatmen.
(Narrated by John Rolls, of New Salem, a witness.)
* * * * *
LINCOLN'S FIRST DOLLAR.
As in all farming communities, where the only movement of currency
is when the crop comes in and the debts accumulating during the
growth are settled and the slight surplus spent, the Indiana pioneers
little knew "extra" cash. To obtain it, the men used their off hours in
guiding intending settlers, assisting surveyors and prospectors, felling
and hewing trees, and horse-trading. Another source of income out of
bounds was to send a stock of produce down the river to sell or barter
for the Southern plantation produce. As there was talk at home of
furnishing their house, Abraham bethought him of this resource. His
father consented readily to any notion that might result in gain, and his
mother, though believing nearly two thousand miles of water travel
onerous, allowed her "yes." Besides, the young man, by excessive work
on their place, had piled up a goodly stock of salable stuff. Abraham
had only to make a boat. It was small, merely to hold the "venture" and
his hand-bundle of "plunder" for the trip and land cruise at New
Orleans. Western country boys who had seen the Crescent City talked
of the exploit as the Easterners of seeing Europe.
Abe was maneuvering his boat on the Ohio River, at Rockport, when

he heard the whistle announcing the approach of a steamboat. These
craft were not enabled to make a landing anywhere, even with a run-out
gang-plank--but took passengers and parcels aboard by lighters.
Lincoln's small boat seemed admirably placed to serve as a transport to
a couple of gentlemen who came down to the shore to ship on the
steamboat. Their trunks were taken out of their carriages, and they
selected Lincoln's new boat among some others. In his homespun, the
gawky youth looked what he was--not the owner of the craft and about
to try a speculation on the river, but one of the "scrubs." The "scrubs,"
not from any relation with washing--quite otherwise--were those poor
families on the outskirts of towns who lived in the scrub or dwarfed
pines. Accordingly one of them asked, indicating the flatboat:
"Who owns this?"
The hero relates the story thus:
"'I answered, somewhat modestly: 'I do!'
"'Will you take us and our trunks out to the steamboat?'
"'Certainly,' glad of the chance of earning something. I supposed that
each of them would give two or three _bits_--practically the dime of
nowadays."
Lincoln carried the passengers aboard the vessel and handed up their
trunks. Each of the gentlemen drew out a piece of silver and threw it on
the little deck.
"Gentlemen, you may think it was a very little thing, and in these days
it seems to me a trifle; but it was a most important incident in my life. I
could scarcely believe my eyes as I picked up the two silver
half-dollars. I could scarcely credit that I, a poor boy, had earned a
dollar in less than a day--that by honest work, I had earned a dollar!"
(Lincoln's flatboatman wage was